Metallic railway-tie



LWL

A. F. BROWN.

METALLIC RAILWAY TIE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 2s, 1920.

1,373,947. Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

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AUGUSTUS BROWN, OF HAVRE GRACE,-MARYLAND.

METALLIC RAILWAY-TIE.

To Vall whom z't may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUSTUS F. BROWN, a citizen of the Unitedv States, residing at Havre de Grace, in the county of Harford and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Railway-Ties, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in metallic railway ties, and to the particular type of such ties which is identified with or designed for use on'lines of railways employing electricity for motive power, signaling, etc., and where in the tieV is insulated against the shortcircuiting of the electric current.

A leading .object of the present invention is to devise a metallic tie of a sectional character wherein the assembled sections or parts of the tie may be fully insulated from each other `and may be united, by bolts or equivalent fastenings so as to make the tie rigid and the sections or parts thereof substantially immovable relatively to each other, either vertically or horizontally.

A further object of my invention is to so fashion the opposed faces of the sections or parts of the divided tie that a strong and substantial interlock is produced to thereby resist movement, vertically or horizontally, of one section or part ,relatively to the other, theinterlocking faces of said sections being provided with an appropriate insulating material and the uniting bolt being, also, insulated so'as to maintain an efficient guard against the short-circuiting of the electric current in lines of railway employing a third rail, or other means for conducting an electric current to the usual motorA of the car, locomotive or other vehicle, or for sig.-

naling, etc. v

Another object of the present invention is to provide a simple and efcient means for preventing the accumulation of cinders on the top of the tie and the short-circuiting of v the electric current by reason of thecinders extending substantially vacross the tie and thereby forming a conductor of the electric circuit from one side rail to thepother.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists of the parts and the constructions, arrangements and combina-l Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 26, 1920. Serial No. 384,394.V f

PatentedApr. 5, 1921.'

tions of parts which I will hereinafter 1de.- scribe and claim. y Y

In the accompanying drawing. forming part of this specification, and in which simi* lar reference charactersiindicate like parts Y inthe several views VFigure 1 is a side elevation of a metallic railway'tie, embodying my invention.

F ig.v 2 is a top plan view of theV same. Y Figr is a horizontal section' on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Y Fig. el isa yface View of a Afragment of the tie showing the'kconnecting ends'of the tie separated. I f c Y' In carrying out my invention'I may constructthe tie ofV suitable metal andl of any v.

desired design, and said tie will be fashioned or provided with appropriate end *,seats, ,A, for the placing of vthe usual track-rails and of such rail fastening devices as maybe deemed best for the particular purposesfor which the tie is intended. In this connection the vtie illustrated in the v.present drawing may represent or` bejconsidered as embodiments of the ties and rail fastenin features of'my former Patents Nos.v l1,12 ,3.50, Y

February 2, v1915; 1,158,975, November 2, 1915; and 1,253,779, nJanuary-15, 1918, but it .will be understood that the present improvements which are restrictedto the construction/of the tie proper,-may be used in soV connectionv with other designs of ties and associated with different means for securing the rails thereto. v, Y

'Instead of the single-piece tie of some `'of my former patents, I now divide the' tie at a point between ends, thus makingthepresent tie of the general character of the one shown, described and claimed in my former Patent Number 1,309,455, dated July 8,`1919,.an`d

, on .which latter tie the presentinvention -is an improvement; some ofthe present novelfeatu'res may, however, be readily 'used in connection with the yspecific oint of the said patent, as I will hereinafter show.

One'of the leading features ofimprovement relates to the provision of means for preventing such a lodgment ofcinders on the tie as to form a conductor land resultin theshort circuiting of the current inr electrically installed railways. It is generally known" to" electrical engineers, that in the orpaths, from one rail'to the other.

cinders are, as a'matter of fact reasonablyr dinary relatively straight flat-top ties which are usually ballasted on cinders, that particles of the cinders often accumulate thereon, from various causes, such as passing trains, to such an extent that they entend continuously, either in straight or irregular lines or trouble. t

A further objection to the existing ties i and particularly to those of the divided type employing insulation in the joint between the sections of the tie, is that the tie usually rests directly on'the ballast at its jointed center as Well as at the ends, and if the jointed A.portion of the tie should rrest upon a bedcontaining a considerable amount of moisture, the moisture Will first attack the metal sections of the tie andiproduce a rust Which, experience shows, Will in time enter the joint and attack the interposed fibrous insulating material and finally cause the same to disintegrate thereby destroying its intended function. To meet vboth of the foregoing serious objections, I construct the present tie, A, With an arched central portion, A', which when the tieV is in place, is sufficiently raised above the ballast to ,prevent moisture in or on the latter creeping into the joint of the divided tie, in which arched central portionof the tie the insulated joint is usually formed. In other Words, I do not essentially disturb the arrangement of the ends of the tie With its rail seats and accessories, and the under sidesrof which rest solidly upon the road ballast, but I arch orA elevate a substantial portion of the'middle part of the tie, as indicated in Fig.` l.

In this arched portion the joint yof the sectional tie is formed, said joint being'in-A sulated to prevent electric current passing from one section of the tie tothe other. In connectionrwith the arching feature, I may use the joint of my said prior Patent Number 1,309,455, or I may use any desired design of joint, including the one I will hereinafter describe. Y

- The arching of the central portion of the tie not only maintains the joint against the injurious influence yof moisture in the road bed, but it also makes the top of the tie substantially discontinuous and therefore cinders cannot accumulate in anl unbroken layer thereon to afford means for shortcircuiting the current, as the curved e surfaces producedjby the arching afford no resting place for cinders and at most vonly a. broken line of cinders could occur andy These such broken line Would effectively prevent the Vcurrent being shortcircuited thereby.

In the present case as inthe aforesaid prior patented construction lNumber lofl. the tie is divided. vertically into sections A, A to form tivo matching por-` tions, eachprovided With ribs and recesses,

ot which there may be any desirednumber, the arrangement being such that When the two sections are fitted together, the meeting facesare brought into close engagement with .an intervening insulating material,

and shoulders are formed which by their tionsV ofthe outer sides.l One end ofeach section I form at an zinclineas shown at l0,

and the Wall of .thisinclinedrportion I bevel outwardly, as atl2,` VEach section of the tie isv further. formed VWith an under-cuty inclined.shoulder, 1.3, at the base of the re-v cess formed by halving the meeting` face of the section, the inclination: ofV this shoulder,

being substantially opposite to the incline, l0, given the extreme end of thesection whereby the recess Whichvis formed Vin the inner face of each section has the .general shape of a flattenedy Z and the inclined beveled'end of one section* will conform to andr closely fit into the inclined-under-cut shoulder. 13 ofthe other section and the sections ivill become intimatelyA locked and can vonly beseparated bysliding'oneusection on; the other. in a plane which isiy substantially7l parallel tothe inclined surfaces l0, 13. rIlhesections cannot, therefore, vbe separated longitudinally or vertically nor. can they be fitted together except by the inh @lined edgewise sliding ,actionof one section onv the other, as before, noted. Y f j In addition to. the recessing of the meeting faces of the sections, I supply oneof.said.v

faces with a rio, 14C, which is arranged at an' Y inclinecorresponding to that of the: undercut .shoulder of said section; :themeeting face of theother section ofthe tie, I forml with an inclined recess, l5, which is parallel with the inclined end of said section and is so fashioned that it Willslidably receiver the aforesaid. rib 111-. The result of thisl con struction is, that when the sections are fitter. together the inclined endof one section will tit within the undercut recess of the other section and the inclined rib la of one section will litthe corresponding recess, l5, of the other section. Both sections are then united and madesecure by a bolt, 16, or other fastening.

Between the meeting faces ofthe sections and closely conforming'to the conguration given the same including the undercut shoulders, I place a piece or sheet 17 of suitable Aiaterialr for electrically insulating the joint, and in order to more effectively guard against a possible short-circuit of the current on lines employing my tie and where elec-V tric current is used for motive power,signaling, etc., I` likewise insulate the bolt, 16, by a sleeve or tube, 1S, of appropriate inaterial, as in my aforesaid prior Patent Numbei neonata.

By reason of the foregoing construction, I am enabled to construct a tie of 'a sectional character and wherein the sections when once made may be quickly assembled to form the complete tie, and where complete insulating of the tie may be effected and where the insulation is protected and serves as an eifective guard against the entrance of moisture between the contacting faces of the sections, and where all tendency of the sections to separate either horizontally or Vvertically will be resisted by the inclined shoulders formed on the respective sections, thereby relieving the bolt of the shearing strains which would otherwise be brought upon it.

llhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l; A metallic railway tie composed of substantially similar sections having overlap-V ping portions with interlocking'faces, and means between said faces for insulating one section of the tie from another, said tie being arched in its intermediate portion so as to elevate the bottom of the interlocked insulated portion a substantial dista-ncey above the road-bed. Y 1

i2. A sectional metallic tie having simila end portions and a divided intermediate portion the under surface of which is arched to elevate the saine above the corresponding` under surfaces of the ends and for a substantial distance above the road-bed.

stantially similar sections and having overlapping portions intermediate of its ends,

said portions provided with interlocking insulated faces, and the upper portion Vof the tie `being discontinuous to-prevent the formasubstantially similar sections having over-V lapping portions vat their inner ends, each of said portions being recessed to form matching faces, each section of the tie having its inner end inclined and transversely beveled, and having an oppositely inclined undercut shoulder conforming to and adapted to receivev and interlock with theinclined end of the opposing section, one of said meeting faces having aninclined recess substantially parallel withtheinclined end of the said section, and the face of the opposing section' having an inclined rib .to slidably engage said recess.

7. A metallic railway tie composed of substantially similar sections having overlapping portions at their inner ends, each of said portions being recessed to'form matching faces, each section of the tiehaving its inner end inclined and transversely beveled` and having an oppositely inclined undercut shoulder conforming to and adapted to receive and interlock with the inclined end of the opposing section, one of said meeting faces having an inclined recess substantially parallel with the inclined vend of said section, and the face ofthe opposing section having an inclined rib to slidably engage said recess, and an insulating material between the faces of the sections and the inclined shoulders and rib and recess and i insulating one overlapping portionof the tie from the other. Y

8. A metallic railway tie composed of substantially similar sect-ions having overlapping portions at their inner ends, each of said portions being recessed to form matching faces` each section of the tie having its inner end inclined and transversely beveled,

and having an oppositely inclined undercut shoulder conforming to and adapted to receive and interlock with the inclined end of f the opposing section,v one of said meetingV faces having an inclined recess substantially parallel with the inclined end of said sec- Jfion, and the face of theopposing section having an inclined rib to slidably engage saidrecess, an insulating material between the faces'of the sections and the inclined shoulders and rib and recess and insulating one overlapping portion of the tie from the other, and an insulating fasteningy passing transversely through said sections.

9. LA metallic railway tie composed of substantially ,similar sections having halvedinner endsforming recessed faces with oppositely inclined portions, one of said inclined iioV iaoY

tion having a correspondingly inclined lug to slidably engage the'same, means for insulating the adjoining aeesof the sections, 10 y and means for fastening the divided portions of the sections tovether.

In testimony Whereof affix my signature.

AUGUSTUS F. BROWN.

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